Cesar Millan and Emily the Pit Bull

[Raised By Wolves]

The Dog Whisperer show, is a chance for us to jointly observe a situation, together, and come back to this forum to share and learn, what we are observing in the "Animal" in Emily. And also, what might be going on between Cesar and the dogs he works with. One added bonus, is observing how the father's, (one of Emily's owners), relationship with his daughter, (...the other one ), sets an example of "family or pack" structure for their dog. IMO...very insightful!

Well, no more detail for now. Let's not pass up this chance to use the WWW, ( not to mention the media!), for constructive purposes.

Kit, pass me that "flamesuit", Please!!!

RBW

[Cassiepeia]

I wish we got the show down here. I'd never heard of it before it was mentioned on Global Paw. It's a pity, I'm sure it'd be interesting to watch.

Cass.

[Raised By Wolves]

Cass,

Check around on your computer. There might be some episode stuff out there.

But, watch out for downloads...My computer would never be able to digest one...and live!

[richnrissa]

RBW
I knew about his show, saw him on other shows like oprah, but finally caught a few episodes this week.
What is amazing to me is not the dogs or what he accomplishes, but the owners!
Theres one episode i missed, but saw the previews of the lady w/ the freaky chihuahua (SP?) and shes crying and saying "i just never wanted a dog that would do this to people" or some such thing.
Like its the dogs fault. And that seems to be a reverbreting concept. A lot of these owners act as though they had the perfect dog, they loved it so much, but now "the dog" has "turned" bad, aggresive, shy, etc, for no apparent reason.
And did you see the one w/ the dog who wouldnt stop running? Wore a path around the yard in the grass right down to the dirt. That made me laugh. I mean, how long do you think it took that little thing to wear a path that deep and kill all the grass?

I think its a great show. He does a great job of gently showing people that THEY are the cause and the solution to the problem!!
Does he do books or videos?

[Raised By Wolves]

If you do an internet search for "Cesar Millan Dog Whisperer", you will find the site for his facility and what's going on with his DVD and the book he's working on. If you check out "The Dog Whisperer" thread in this forum, I gave my opinion on his DVD. If you go to The National Geographic site, it contains some of Cesar's basic philosophies and some personal info, and a list of eposodes which I believe you can download on your computer. I'll bet it takes a lot of memory, so don't "crash"!.

If you watch the episode, "There's Something About Emily" and want to talk about what's going on, and what you think about it... c'mon back and we try to take advantage of this chance to learn.

Yes, it is usually about the owners, not the dog!

PS There's some more discussion about him in the "Oprah Winfrey's Dog Problems" thread, also in this forum.

[Pippinislove]

I've seen a lot of the Dog Whisperer's episodes, but don't know the names... is Emily the red nose, or is she the white one that is dog-aggro, or another one?

[flyndog]

You'll have to get your own flamesuit!
Remember, kids. It's a TV show and it's edited. Don't try this at home.
Kit

[Raised By Wolves]

Originally Posted by Pippinislove

I've seen a lot of the Dog Whisperer's episodes, but don't know the names... is Emily the red nose, or is she the white one that is dog-aggro, or another one?

Emily is the white pit bull, with brown markings and a brown heart on her side, (Episode 11, "Emily"- I think). She is the dog who was considered an extreme "red zone" case, due to her severe aggression towards other dogs. She had been kept in the owner's back yard, spoiled rotten, unsocialized with other dogs, and pretty much used by her owners to fulfill their own neediness. There was an interesting parallel between how the human father had spoiled his daughter, and how they had both done the same thing to their dog.

Here is where I would put another disclaimer:

In addition to, "Please don't attempted these techniques yourself, without consulting a proffessional", which appears several times during each episode, in both written and spoken forms...

How about, "Please don't own a dog, if you can't put their needs before your own".

Frankly, this is the bottom line, and point of most of these shows. If you pay attention, it's pretty clear who is responsible for the dog's messed up state of mind. Cesar is a lot tougher on the owners, than he is on the dog. I'll bet he'd much rather have a "chat" with the dog, and take the owners to his facility for "rehab"!

Anyway, this dog was very sweet with people, but went deaf, dumb, and blind in her efforts to "get at" any dog within sight. The owners couldn't even take her for a walk. Many "dog trainers", won't even touch a dog once they've reached this level of aggression.

Remember, this is "dog rehabilitation" and "people training", not "dog training". Cesar's techniques are based on a dog's own language and forms of communicating with each other.

Dogs don't teach each other "tricks", nor do they argue with each other over which method of "training" works, or makes them feel best.

[Pippinislove]

I haven't seen that episode. :O I'll have to be on the lookout for it.

[wardog1]

Everything comes easy to a dog, it's humans that complicate things for them. CM knows and understands this and he uses it to work with dogs. Yes it is edited 3 hours into 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes can give some owners insite to their own short comings when it comes to problem dogs (created by the owner). And yes people should be VERY careful about trying it at home. I also have to agree with RBWolves, more often than not people put their own needs above that of the pet they own, and...that is a mistake.

[richnrissa]

haha! they replayed the episode tonight so I finally got a chance to see it.
I felt so sorry for this dog! This is a classic case of getting the wrong dog for your lifestyle coupled with total inadequate knowledge of the dog, and complete lack of any discipline.

The most interesting parts were the interaction of the dogs owners. The part of the episode where the girl is just crying and saying how she feels so guilty, how its her fault--and theres her Dad saying "i think the guilt is over, this will fix it"---right back in HIS role of washing over all his daughters faults, feelings, etc.

It was also telling when they tried to walk Emily past the neighborhood doberman, and when the owners were present in the background she went back into old habits, but when Caeser made the owners walk away, Emily was able to settle down into calm-submission and handle the situation. It was at that point the daughter/owner said "i think its us, she doesnt do that with Caeser, only when were there" and i think she was starting to get it.

Now i see why you started the thread about THIS particular episode. Definitely the most complex, and the most severe agression, of all the episodes i've been able to catch so far.